To feel that sad that basic cooking skills are dying out

[SingleDoubleWhippedClotted]

Me and my brother were taught to cook by my gran and mum. Dad used to cook too but worked away a lot so wasn't around as much.

So many people now seem to be incapable of basic food prep and spend a fortune on food. Cooking seems to be an undervalued life skill, I think its so important to have the skills to be able to prepare simple cheap healthy meals.

I have taught my teen to cook and she could fend for herself if she left home tomorrow. She can cook healthy cheap meals.

I see so many threads on here where people can't boil rice, boil an egg etc

I think your example of the teacher who can't make soup is a bit harsh. I dont know what else she makes, but someone upthread made the point that lots of people can do the basics, but don't necessarily have that skill of instinctively knowing to add more of something or less or whatever.

And soup is actually a classic example of this. It's so easy to land up with soup that is too watery, or too thick or too bland. So people who are just competent cooks may well find soup something that's a bit overwhelming.

I also think that if we go back 40 years or so, a lot of people who were cooking, had a very limited selection of what they made. We grew up with almost no ready meals or convenience food, BUT we also grew up with a very limited selection of fairly standard, bland western food. Roast dinner, shepherds pie, some kind of meat/fish with potatoes/rice and three vegetables. Meat, chicken and fish were flavoured very simply, maybe with salt and dried mixed herbs or paprika. Spaghetti bologniase was relatively exotic.

Today, to be considered a competent cook by OP's standards I think you'd need to do a much wider variety. And while I have certainly managed that because I enjoy cooking and love to watch a tv cooking show or read a recipe book, I know lots and lots of people who still cook and eat a fairly standard diet. Which is fine, if that's your thing.

I don't think it's just both parents working that makes the difference - time seems to be much more pressured in lots of ways. My Mum was a SAHM which I don't doubt meant it was easier for her to cook from scratch but we just didn't do as much in the evenings either. I went to Brownies/Guides one night a week and that was about it. And I walked there and back - my parents didn't have to tale me or pick me up. I would say my school mates were mainly similar. Some might have gone to dance class, had music lessons or played a sport but it would have been either/or, not the multiple activities which are common now. My primary school had no after school activities at all and at secondary there weren't many - a few sports practices and there was a play once a year that involved some after school rehearsals. But most evenings our whole family was home by 5.30pm. Mum was always at home and had no hobbies outside the house, we finished school at 4, walked home and were in by 4.30 and Dad worked 9-5 and would be home by 5.30. Tea would be on the table when he got in and we virtually always ate together.
By contrast, when my children were all at school there was rarely an evening when at least one of them didn't have some kind of activity. DH and I both worked and evenings were often a mad dash from one place to another, not infrequently with the entire family not getting back into the house til nearly bedtime. Even now I am retired and only have one late teen at home I volunteer during the day and a couple of nights a week, DS plays sport at least one week night and at weekends and DH is away with work fairly often. I do try to cook "proper" meals and have family mealtimes but there often just isn't time. I'm actually a reasonably good cook and enjoy it when there is no time pressure eg special occasions. But on a day to day basis our lifestyle doesn't really allow for anyone to spend hours in the kitchen so I probably do use too many jars etc. But it's not because I can't make a sauce from scratch. Looking at my friends and family I don't think we are unusual and I think that is a big part of why cooking habits have changed since my 70s childhood.

There's a bit of a Bootstrap Jack feel about this thread that is making me cringe. I think if you volunteer or work in an organisation that helps people in a vulnerable state of life you shouldn't post about them on the Internet and be patronising about them.

For what it's worth, everyone I know cooks. And I cook lots of meals from scratch but have never boiled an egg - because I don't like boiled eggs. I can make soup but think it's a ball ache and would rather buy it in a tin.

This thread has reminded me how much I hate soup.

I can make it...I don't.

Exactly! The time and effort in making it just doesn't balance against the time eating it.

Longest I ever cook something for is nine minutes, and that's because it's a frozen lasagne and I have to adjust the time from a 1000 watt to an 800 watt microwave.

I'm always half thinking "it all turns to shit anyway" when it comes to spending any time on food ...

Not here. Our adult kids are better cooks than I am. Self-taught mostly because they enjoy good food.

You're talking nonsense, sorry.

Cooking from scratch is very, very popular. How do you think shows like come dine with me became so popular?
My tik tok and facebook shorts are nothing but recipes and they always have loads of views, likes and comments. People chat about cooking and food all the time, big kitchens with lots of space, utensils and gadgets are still very much desired and dinner parties still very much attended. Recipe boxes are also popular and found a great gap in the market - thinking fo what to cook and shopping for all the bits and weighing them out can be tedious but their existance proves that people still very much enjoy the art and skill of putting it all together.

The only real difference is people have a choice now and ways of not doing it when it doesn't suit us.

Love the "people saying they can't cook are liars" implication with the "if you can read/watch a video you can cook" nonsense being trotted out here. So suddenly there's no actual skills involved in cooking, eh? Anybody can do it any old time? I endured two years of horrible cookery lessons at school and have no more skills than I did then.

If you think most people cook I think it's you living in a bubble.

Maybe you’re the one living in a bubble. Most countries in the world have no choice but to cook from scratch, putting food on a pan and sliding it into the oven is considered a privilege for many.

I don't think it would ever have occurred to them. There were two cookery books in the house and they were both 70s books aimed at new wives, mainly about meat and two veg. They never bought another one and we didn't have internet at home at the time so I'm not sure how they would have learned. As I said, even my grandmothers, one of whom baked all the time as well as cooking her own home grown veg etc., never made their own soup as far as I know.

I know that I sometimes find it hard to follow recipes without being able to google too eg to find out what the ingredients are and what kind of section of the supermarket I will find them in, understand some cooking terms eg 'brown' the onions.
Videos are very good though.

And because of the time issue, I will only cook when I can make many portions. That means that if it's gone wrong, there's a LOT of food I have to either force myself to eat, with extra cheese or salt and pepper, or throw away.

Exactly. Obviously I can read and follow a recipe and get something on a plate, but if the end result takes me four times as long as it should, causes me untold stress during the process, and results in something that's a disappointment to eat at best - then to me, that is not being able to cook.

Howling at white sauce being old fashioned 😂

It takes - 10 mins, is bog simple and the basis for so many dishes.

I can make white sauce but I do consider it to be fairly old fashioned.

Agree.

Also a bit myopic. I can cook. But I had to actively work to learn how to cook curries as it wasn't something I grew up with. Similarly, I had to put thought and effort into how to cook more cheaply when money is tight. I also had to learn how to do sensible meal planning becuase I decided I wanted less waste, more variety AND I was spending too long cooking on days I didn't have time.

I largely taught myself a lot of this. But I taught myself by looking for resources from tv cooking shows, to asking people who were better at it, to reading cook books. I once went on a cooking class as a fun activity with a friend, and years later, the single best thing about that session was some useful tips on chopping vegetables.

I think it's admirable that these women are putting their hands up and saying, "let's expand our skills". Doesn't mean they can't already cook.

You sound terribly judgemental. That's what's sad.

I think it is considered quite old fashioned but that's a pity as the basic skills involved are quite useful. The understanding of how cooking out the flour makes a difference, thickening sauces etc.

Food is like fashion and language...it evolves and changes. A lot of younger people who cook nowadays are probably more used to making tacos and stir fries than pies and pasties.

There was a thread a year or so ago by a woman who had made a lovely meal of tacos for her DH's extended family, including her MIL. She'd even made her own taco shells rather than buying them in. She'd done sides and accompaniments and options - the whole nine yards.

Her MIL sniffed at it and accused her of not making enough effort because she'd made "fast food" or some similar ridiculous statement.